Data security remains a concern across all computer platforms. However, data security is a significant concern on mobile, hand-held computing devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. The mobility and relatively small form factor of such devices, while generally desirable, tends to allow for easier misplacement, loss, and theft of mobile computing devices. When a mobile computing device is lost or stolen, the data stored on the device is in jeopardy. Depending on the previous uses of the mobile computing device, the lost/stolen device may include sensitive data such as personal identification data, financial data, medical data, and/or the like.
Typical desktop computers and other immobile and/or non-hand-held computing devices may implement a form of data protection using a type of software-based data encryption/decryption. For example, some data protection solutions for desktop computers employ a whole disk encryption/decryption scheme. However, such software-based data protection solutions typically rely on the computational power of the central processing unit of the desktop computer, which may be significantly more powerful than those processors included on mobile, hand-held computing devices. Additionally, some desktop and similar computers may include self-encrypting hard disk drives. However, such hard disk drives typically include a form factor that restricts their use in the mobile, hand-held computing devices such as a smart phone or tablet computer.